


We Must Be Killers

by TimeTravelFreak



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Gen, Killing, Original Character Death(s), Trauma, erwin and levi making hard decisions, kink meme fill, possible spoilers for latest manga chapters, the 104th being creepy, the 104th learning how to kill people, this is not a happy fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-02
Updated: 2014-04-02
Packaged: 2018-01-17 22:56:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1405678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimeTravelFreak/pseuds/TimeTravelFreak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After finding out that they have human enemies who have no trouble killing people Erwin decides that the new Special Operations Squad has to learn how to deal with them.</p>
<p>Levi has doesn't like it, but he is the best there is. And he is a good teacher.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Must Be Killers

**Author's Note:**

> SnK kink meme fill for this prompt: http://snkkink.dreamwidth.org/8414.html?thread=6755038#cmt6755038
> 
> Those prompts are awesome for overcoming writer's block.

It doesn't happen right away, but only because they hadn't realised that it was actually needed.

It is only after they save Eren from the other two Titan shifters, Erwin loses an arm and Pastor Nick was killed that they realise that they have to do something.

“Not everyone in the Corps, that would be impossible,” Erwin says, grimacing as he slowly and clumsily buttons his shirt with his off hand.

Levi can feel his fingers twitch and he has to hold himself back from simply stepping in and doing it for the other man. It would only hurt more than help. 

Erwin has to live with one arm for the rest of his life.

It's better he learns how to take care of himself sooner rather than later.

“But you want me to teach those brats how to kill people.”

Levi's voice is flat, his face expressionless as always, but his shoulders are tense and his fingers twitch again, this time because of different reasons.

He had thought that he had left the whole killing humans business behind after fully joining the Survey Corps. Finding out that Titans were humans had been bad enough, but now Erwin is ordering him to kill even non-Titan humans, simply as a training-exercise.

It's not enough to make him regret becoming a soldier, but the irony is almost enough to make him choke.

He had become a soldier because he had been sick of killing. Only it turned out that he had been killing more people as a soldier than as a criminal.

And worse than that, he has to teach a couple of brats, children, how to do the same.

“I'm not asking you to teach them specifically,” Erwin corrected him. His face is also as always, composed and calm. 

The only reason Levi is still listening is because of his trust in this person and the tightness lingering in the corners of Erwin's eyes which has nothing to do with the pain he feels coming from what is left of his right arm.

It's almost funny, that deciding to teach a couple of kids how to kill can make one feel more like filth than sending them to their deaths.

“I'm asking you to teach the Special Operations Squad how to deal with human enemy soldiers. The way Pastor Nick died taught us that our enemies are closer and more human than we imagined and we need the people who protect Eren and Christa to be able to deal with that. 

It's sad that they are still so young, but you wouldn't have chosen them if you didn't think they could handle what being in your squad entails,” Erwin reminds him unnecessarily.

And it's not as if they hadn't killed humans before. 

Neither of them says it, but they both know it's true. Everyone in the Survey Corps is a killer, whether they had known it or not.

Levi nods and doesn't say anything else. He knows it's necessary. 

The brats need to learn, not only for Eren and Christa's protection, but also to protect themselves.

* * *

He decides to teach them one by one and he wants them to be unprepared so he can gauge their affinity for killing and their ability to deal with other humans. He already has a vague notion of how things will go, but in the end there are a few surprises along the way.

Mostly he is unsettled, because they do so well.

* * *

Mikasa is the first.

He knows she will keep her mouth shut and she is one of the people he knows will have no problem doing what he asks when he tells her it's for Eren's protection.

He is right. 

The target he picked is scum, a thief, a killer, a rapist. He took care picking out their targets too – if they have to kill people, at least let them be people who deserve it. It's night, the first time he takes them out it will always be night.

The darkness makes it easier. It will put the kids on edge, sharpen their senses and it will dull the impressions of their first murder, the blood less red, the blade less bright.

He explains the situation and then lets her loose. He lets her use the 3DMG, simply because he knows that it's easy to use and there is little to no danger of being hurt with it.

He wants to teach them, not let them be hurt. 

He will teach them more elaborate, difficult, inconspicuous methods after they have gotten used to taking lives.

Mikasa has no trouble at all.

He tells her it's for Eren's sake and the moment she hears that her eyes narrow, she nods and moves.

An instant later, the man's head rolls, his body twitching, still not having realised that it is now missing something vital.

Mikasa wipes her blade on the man's clothes, her face calm.

Levi keeps his face expressionless. It's as he expected. She has speed and power, but she is too straightforward, all force and no finesse. 

Still, she will be easy to train.

* * *

The next one is Armin.

The boy is too smart to not have figured out what he had Mikasa do, so he picks him next. He can't have the blonde blab to the others.

Armin understands. 

Levi explains the situation, but even as he speaks he can tell that that's not really necessary. The understanding in those blue eyes is sharp and unforgiving and reminds him of Erwin.

So he lets the boy loose on his target and watches. 

Armin doesn't have the physical capabilities of the others. His greatest weapon is his mind. That is easy to see in the way he corners his target. 

It's the opposite of Mikasa, who was all force. Armin moves with care and finesse, aware of his weaknesses and careful to compensate for them.

Still, he hesitates when it comes to the killing blow. 

It's not deep enough and his target falls, gurgling, trashing on the floor, a high-pitched whine revealing their agony. Armin stares, biting his lip hard enough to bleed and, with his face twisted into a grimace, delivers the killing blow.

He is still trembling when Levi tells him to go back to the barracks. Only nodding slightly and leaving quickly.

The first time is always the hardest, Levi remembers dimly. 

Armin will be good at it. 

He looks unassuming and because of his lack of talent when using the 3DMG, he will be the last person their human enemies will expect to retaliate.

* * *

He hesitated about whom to choose next. 

Usually he would pick Eren, but that's a bad idea at the moment. Eren is not only bad at lying and keeping secrets, he is also the one person they have to protect more than anyone else, even Christa.  
So Eren and Christa will come last and he will have the others stand guard so there will be no unpleasant surprises.

The ones left are Connie, Sasha and Jean, all three of which have the potential to be troublesome.

* * *

He picks Sasha next.

She is a food-crazed idiot, but she also fought against a Titan with bow and arrow and lived to tell the tale.

Sasha, he realises, is a surprise. 

He takes her to her target and explains the situation. Sasha trembles, frightened, but then takes a breath and steadies herself.

Then she asks for a bow.

“I used to go hunting with my father so I'm good with it,” she tells him, her voice uneven. “One time we were out hunting and during that time a man broke into the house and attacked my mother. Father was furious. He took his bow and went to look for the man. And I followed him.”

Her lips are trembling as she tells him that, but her eyes are hard.

“I found him first.”

He gives her a bow. 

She shoots. 

Her target falls, twitching one last time and then stills.

Sasha is trembling, her breath coming in short, quick gasps. It's only her hands with are steady.

Sasha is a surprise, but it's a pleasant one.

* * *

He picks Jean next.

He had a vague idea how everyone would react and while Sasha was a surprise, the others had done as he had expected.

He has no idea how Jean will react. 

The boy is sharp and capable of making hard decisions, but he is also unexpectedly weak and stubborn about the oddest things.

Levi has no doubt that Jean will understand the necessity of what he has to do. The question is whether he will be able to do it.

So he takes the boy to his target and explains the situation. Then he waits. Jean is silent for a long moment, turning to watch the man he is supposed to kill.

Levi is about to say something when he notices Jean's hand clench in front of him as if holding something.

“Offering up your heart, huh?” 

Jean laughs a little and the sound is so bitter that it's hard to believe that it is coming from a boy not even sixteen yet.

Then he becomes quiet again, pauses for just a moment before using his 3DMG, moving so easily and fluidly that he seems slow, even though he is faster than most of the other soldiers.

He turns suddenly and sharply, his blades a quick flash before he turns again, back at Levi's side before his target's body even hit the ground.

Levi nods and tells him to go back.

Jean has good instincts. He moves easily and without hesitation, his situational awareness is more than above average and he did his task quickly, taking care to leave the scene as soon as possible.

Levi would approve if he didn't get the feeling that the boy left so quickly because he didn't want to look at the body he put there.

Well, sooner or later they would progress to killing in close quarters and there was no way Jean could avoid his actions then.

* * *

Next is Connie.

Other than Christa, who is known to be compassionate, Levi suspects that Connie is the one to make the most trouble.

He is right, but not in the way that he expected.

The boy, shorter even than Levi himself, listens when he explains what he expects Connie to do. His eyes are wide, his body is trembling, but he obeys.

He obeys and doesn't stop, continuing to attack the body of his target even after they have long since died.

Levi watches slightly unsettled as the boy goes berserk, hacking away at the body in front of him, ignoring the blood splattering around him.

He should have expected this. 

Connie had been quiet ever since he had found out what had happened to his parents.

It would have been terrible had they been killed by Titans.

Terrible, but bearable.

To know that they had been turned into Titans, that his mother was being used as a sample to find out more about them was more than anyone could endure without cracking at least a little.

Levi takes a deep breath and allows himself a moment to hate the situation he had been put in.

The he puts a hand on Connie's shoulder and tells him to go back and clean himself up without being seen.

It is callous and cruel, but he is going to crack the boy even more. 

It's good to have someone on the squad who can attack like that. In his mind, Levi puts together a list of things he has to teach them.

Mikasa needs to learn how to do delicate operations, but she is best suited to be a heavy-hitter, fast and merciless.

Armin is suited for infiltrations and assassinations, so he needs to be taught how to be able to disappear in a crowd and how to be stealthy.

Sasha has good eyes and hands, letting her keep using the bow to support the close combat fighters would be the best.

Jean is difficult to assign a position to, but it would probably be best to keep him as a wild card. He would be good as support, but also as a leader, and Levi has already seen that he is also suited for assassinations and operations where a quick entrance and exit is needed.

And Connie... He will have to be taught how to channel his rage, how to direct it. Techniques which take advantage of his small build and fast reflexes.

Nodding to himself, Levi appreciates that they make such a balanced group. 

The only question is how Eren and Christa fit into it.

* * *

Eren is next, mostly because from what Levi heard, he won't be much of a problem.

He tells the others to build a perimeter around the area he takes Eren to, Christa safe with Hanji and Erwin.

He tells the boy what is going on and while Eren is reluctant, the moment he hears that the man he is hunting is a criminal and what he has done, his face changes, his eyes lightening until they almost glow.

A chill goes down Levi's back.

He doesn't even has to say anything. Eren zeroes in on his target and moves without hesitation, killing him without even batting an eyelid.

Levi can't help but shake his head a little.

Eren has talent. 

He has always been good at hand-to-hand fighting, but the thing which will make him an exceptional killer is his ability to stop seeing his target as human.

Levi recognised the look in Eren's eyes as he had looked at his target.

The boy hadn't seen the man as human. He had seen him as a beast to be put down.

One the one hand, Levi can't help but think that way of thinking is ideal when fighting human enemies. 

On the other hand, it's a less than ideal mindset for a boy who can turn into a monster whose only desire is to eat human flesh.

* * *

As expected, Christa is the one who makes the most trouble.

She refuses to kill her target even after being told that it was a criminal and she won't budge no matter what he says to her.

In the end, to everyone's surprise, it's Connie, who manages to convince her.

“And what about Ymir?” He asks suddenly.

Christa stills. 

“What about her?” She asks almost defensively.

“You want to see her again, right?” Connie's eyes are hard. 

After a quick look around, Levi realises that the others have a similar look in their eyes. None of them took the Titan shifters' betrayal well.

“Of course I do,” Christa snaps, uncharacteristically sharp.

“Then you have to survive until then,” this time it's Mikasa who speaks, understanding in her eyes, despite their hardness.

“Our enemies turned out to have been humans. And the thing they want most in the world is to kill you and Eren. Or if not kill, then subdue and confine you. And if that happens you can forget about seeing Ymir again.”

Jean is as blunt as always, hitting right where it hurt without pulling his punches.

Christa swallows, obviously wavering, but in the end she agrees.

It's ugly. 

Despite that she agreed, she still hesitates and the way she cuts her target is deep, but not deep enough. It reminds Levi a little of Armin, but the boy had been at least a little more composed.

It takes Christa several tries for her to finally end her target's life and at the end she is crying and shaking.

Immediately after she is done, Sasha hugs her and takes her back to the barracks to get cleaned up.

Levi sends the others after them and, as always, stays behind to dispose of the corpse.

It would be difficult to wean Christa of her reluctance, but it seemed that Ymir was the way to get through to her.

Once she loses that reluctance though... She is like Armin, in that people usually underestimate her, but where Armin makes people wary through the sharp look in his eyes, Christa is a genuinely sweet girl.

If she could use that to her advantage, she would be perfect for infiltrations and information-gathering.

* * *

Once Levi is done with the first step of his training plan, he goes to visit Erwin again. 

The blonde is sitting at his desk and going through paper-work, despite the fact that the doctor told him to take it easy for a while and Levi can't help but snort.

Erwin looks up, and smiles at him, but Levi can tell that the taller man is preparing himself for his report.

“How did it go?” Erwin asks finally, when Levi stays quiet.

He thinks back to what happened, thinks about what he will teach those brats and how he will break them until they fit into what he imagines for them. 

He thinks about the effortless slash of a blade, the thrumming sound of an arrow being released, the quiet, wet sound of a knife sliding between someone's ribs.

“Children” he says, “are frightening.”


End file.
